Midterms have come and gone and it’s now time for spring break. WOOO Spring Break PARTY! CANCUN!...... no.
I’m in Italy, one of the richest cultural and historical countries in the world. I’m not wasting my time partying on the beach for a week. Some of our friends headed down to the Canaries, a small grouping of Spanish islands off the coast of Morocco. I saw their pictures and it was beautiful, but I was in the mood to take in as much of Italy as I could. Will, Amy, and I headed north from Tuscany to Liguria and the rugged coastal cities that make up Cinque Terre, or “The five lands.” From La Spezia you can take the local train to the five towns - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. The best thing I could suggest for any able-bodied person to do would be to hike the trail that runs amongst all five towns. It will take you from one adorable coastal city to another, and while you walk (in some places hike and climb) from one to the next, you can see the towns down below, the waves crashing against the breakers, steep farmland on the hills, and if you time it right, a beautiful sunset over the Ligurian Sea. To hike from the first to the fifth takes a good 5 hours, depending upon your ability. Walk the steep and narrow “streets” (aka stairs) that meander through each town, you’ll find unique homes and friendly locals (if it’s not tourist season). Next stop for us is Genova and to be honest I don’t remember much of the city other than the fact that every shop sold Pesto & there’s a sizable aquarium in the city.
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| View of Vernazza from the cliffs |
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| train tunnel in cinque terre |
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| Cinque Terre |
There’s a really cool but incriminating story that is attached to our arrival in Milan. I was a last minute addition to Will & Amy’s trip through Italy, and I’m grateful for their invitation! The hotel we stayed at in the city didn’t really allow three people in a room - so after they checked in and I found out what floor they were on, they made their way to the elevator, and I headed up the fire escape ;)
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| Half of the cathedral in Milan, the lower half was under renovation |
I’m not a die-hard Dave Matthews fan, but to those of you that are, you’re going to hate me for this. They had tickets for a Dave Matthews acoustic performance at an opera hall in Milan that sat maybe 800 people. For those of you who know him well, it’s not uncommon for Dave to play to outdoor crowds of 40,000+ people - so this was a rather intimate gathering. Since I didn’t have a ticket, I went with my friends anyway intending to buy one on the street, but decided it would be far more fun to just sneak into the show. Mission accomplished.
After Milano I head south with Trenitalia to Pesaro & Urbino, where my friend Erica studied Italian. Urbino is a very tiny medieval fortress type city - extremely hilly, and vastly different from any other Italian city I’ve seen. Great people, great food, great gelato, great little city.
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| Urbino |
Now! For the moment you’ve all been waiting for: my restoration of faith in humanity.
It’s the festa della donna, a day to celebrate the achievements of women. I’m on the train from Pesaro on the east coast of Italy, headed north through Bologna, to connect south to Florence. Pain in the ass trip. And to make it even better - the Italian transportation workers go on strike at 9pm mid-way from Bologna back to Florence. I don’t know what city I’m in, how far in miles, kilometers, or hours to home, and I don’t speak Italian very well at this point. Not good. Fabrizio, the 50-or-so year old gentleman sitting across the aisle is on the phone with his wife relaying the news of the transit strike to the passengers nearby. Michelina, the nice young italian girl across from me, is trying her best to translate for me in English. Fabrizio invites the woman across from him, Michelina, and myself to join him in a cab to go to Prato, his hometown (which I found out later its just outside of Florence). Michelina assured me it was a good choice, and my other option would probably be to sleep in the train station, so I said what the hell. Fabrizio would not accept a single Euro from any of us for the ride - he said it was his way to recognize the Festa Della Donna .... e l’uomo Americano...
Not only did Fabrizio pay for the cab to Prato, but he also offered myself and Michelina a ride into Florence, all the way to Santa Maria Novella, the main train station! But first, we were to stop at his house, because he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Food is very important for those of us with Italian stomachs. We were introduced to his wife and kids, and the dogs came around to greet us as we were invited to partake in some wine & cheese, torta, focaccia, olives, etc. Then, Fabrizio and his wife got back in the car and drove Michelina and I to the city - we walked to the Duomo and parted ways, thankful and happy that such hospitality exists in any country, and in people still today.
Someday I will find a way to properly thank Fabrizio and his family for their generosity.
For the following week, my girlfriend at the time Kaitlyn came to visit and we had a blast. Explored Florence like tourists - we climbed to the top of the duomo, went to the Academia to see the sculpture of the David, and explored all the open air markets that the city has to offer. We also ate at Il Latini, a fantastic restaurant on Via dei Palchetti that is family style - when you attempt to get in, tell them how many people you are and that you want to try everything! Antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni, dolci, e vini. Lots and lots of food & wine. You won’t regret the pounds you put on. At the end, the price per person for the table varies based on how much fun you had, how much italian you speak, how cute you are, and how much you flirt with your waiter. The several times I went we paid anywhere from 25 to 40 euro per person.
And finally, later in the month a group of us headed down to explore Rome. I need to go back there because we didn’t spend enough time exploring or eating our way through the city. We did your basics - The Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, St. Peters Basilica and of course the Sistine Chapel.
This was long, sorry.
Until next time!
